Forging Divinity (36 page)

Jonan just shrugged at her, so she shook her head and reached out, touching the man’s cheek with a hand.

“Sleep.”

She felt a tingling sensation in her hand as the Dominion of Dreams surged through her. The guard didn’t even have a moment to register alarm – he simply collapsed, and Lydia stepped in to catch him, laying him gently down on the ground. Glancing side-to-side, she detected no other onlookers, and she dragged the guard out of the way of the door.

“Am I still invisible?” she whispered to Jonan. She could have checked with a spell, but she didn’t want to tax herself further.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “As long as you stay close, keeping you invisible isn’t particularly taxing.”

“Can you get him, too?” she asked, indicating the sleeping guard.

Jonan gave her a nervous look. “Sure, as long as I wait right around here.”

That’s going to be a problem. I could drag him to a side room – he should be asleep for a while – but someone is going to notice his absence eventually. And my sleep spell isn’t going to keep him asleep forever. He’ll probably raise the alarm as soon as he wakes up.

“I’ll drag him into the room with us,” Lydia decided. “Make him invisible now, and then you can keep him invisible while I go into the paths.”

Jonan nodded, waving a hand. A shimmer of light washed over the surface of the fallen guard’s body. Lydia lifted him carefully, straining against the dead weight. “Get the door?”

The scribe inched forward, looking at the door knob like it was a venomous serpent, and hesitantly reached out to touch it. After a moment, he turned the handle and slowly pulled the door open.

The room inside was grand in scale and marvelous in design. Beyond a set of tall pillars, Lydia could just make out a pair of figures on the opposite end of the chamber – Edon and Myros.

Hope they don’t hear us.

Lydia lifted the guard and slowly dragged him inside, while Jonan followed a moment later and closed the door quietly behind them. The sorceress laid the guard down to the side of the door, so anyone walking inside wouldn’t step directly onto him.

Maybe I should drag him further inside,
she considered.
It would take him longer to reach the door and raise an alarm if he has to wake up and run across this huge chamber to get out. On the other hand, he’s more likely to wake up prematurely if he’s close enough to hear people making noise – and Edon and Myros look like they’re talking over there.

She left the guard where he was, gesturing for Jonan to move up with her. The pair crept forward, and Myros and Edon’s voices became clearer as they approached.

“If you’d just let Byron take the throne, maybe Tylan would back down,” Myros said, gesticulating with the Heartlance. The voice still boomed out from Myros’ helmet with sorcerous amplification, sounding clear even from dozens of feet away. “He’s more than old enough, and we both know it.”

“Age is irrelevant. The boy tried to have me killed.” A deep anger was evident in Edon’s tone, and the older man’s hands trembled as turned his head away from Myros.

The armored figure shook his head. “We still have no evidence he hired those men.”

“Morella will find something. I am certain of it.”

He’s talking about those men that were discovered in the palace months ago. Everyone has been assuming they were targeting the prince – but if they were targeting Edon... Well, that certainly explains why Morella has been claiming to have ‘more important’ things to deal with lately.

“It’s been two months. They’re long gone. If you try to delay the coronation again, it’s just going to look like you’re the one trying to hold onto all the power.”

Edon shoulders slumped. His response was too faint for Lydia to hear, but she didn’t dare to quicken her step to hear more.

“That might be true, but is it worth risking a civil war?” Myros argued.

Lydia was close enough to hear Edon’s response this time. “It won’t come to that,” Edon insisted. “I’ve already taken precautions.”

“I think you underestimate her level of support,” Myros countered. “Have you noticed that most people don’t even refer to her as ‘regent’ anymore? She’s just the queen to most people.”

“Supporting her does not mean supporting the prince,” Edon argued. “I have supported her for years – and I continue to. Keeping the prince away from that throne is the best for all of us.”

Myros shook his head. “How many delays do you think Byron will tolerate? He’s already furious.”

The sorceress perked up at that.
Is Edon planning on executing a coup? That would explain why Tylan had the Rethri removed from the city.

Beyond the pair, Lydia could see stairway leading downward toward a titanic metal door. Some sort of runes were etched into the surface of the metal, and the base of the door was immersed in a large pool of water.

Resh, how am I going to get down there and open that without attracting any attention?

“It’s not about delaying. Tylan will have other things to worry about soon, and she’ll eventually see that our current situation is superior to the alternative,” Edon replied, folding his arms across his chest. The crystal on his ring flickered brightly as Lydia came closer, and she eyed it warily.

That’s definitely some kind of dominion bonded item, but I’d need to get close enough to touch it to figure out specifics.

“I think you’re deluding yourself. You can’t have it both ways – the queen regent isn’t going to be satisfied until her son is crowned. How do you expect to keep her-“

A large hole suddenly appeared near the top of the door, and a flood of water carried a figure – unmistakably Taelien – out into the chamber.

He had a long fall.

Lydia rushed forward, but Myros was faster. The armored figure was a blur, leaving a trail of displaced water that led to the spot where Taelien landed. A moment later, Myros lifted Taelien from the pool, carrying him out to where Myros and Edon had been standing before.

Lydia inched closer, her hand on the hilt of her sword. She was almost in striking range of Edon now, and closing the last few footsteps wouldn’t take more than a moment. She glanced at Jonan – he was hovering a dozen yards further away, his expression neutral.

Taelien clutched the Sae’kes tightly in his right hand. Only one azure rune flickered on the surface of the sword, but even that sight filled Lydia with a sense of hope and exultation.
The sword still glows. He’s alive.

She turned her attention to a gemstone that had slipped out of Taelien’s hand when he hit the water. She didn’t recognize the stone, but dominion bonded gemstones were common in ancient legends.
Could it be a piece of Cessius? That does look like a Xixian structure.

Taelien managed to push himself to a sitting position, but his arm had been badly mauled, and blood still trailed from several wounds. He glanced at Edon nervously, and then back to Myros.

Myros retrieved the gemstone from the water, examining it for a moment, and then thrusting it toward Taelien.

“I think you earned this,” Myros said, and Taelien took the offered stone.

“Thanks,” Taelien replied, his expression dubious. He began coughing a moment later, and Lydia had to suppress the urge to step closer to inspect his wounds.

The armor-clad god of battle reached down and hauled Taelien up to his feet. The swordsman looked more than a little unsteady, which was unsurprising, given that he was soaked and still badly bleeding.

Might not need to turn this into a fight after all,
Lydia considered.
If they wanted to attack him, they probably would have done so already.

Edon looked Taelien up and down, grinning. “You’ve done very well, Taelien, just as I had hoped. Now, hand me the gem, and we’ll see about giving you godhood, as you deserve.”

Or not.
Lydia stepped around behind Edon, putting her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Taelien wiped the water out of his eyes, and then groggily reached out with his hand, offering the gemstone to Edon. “Here,” he said. “Take it.”

Edon stepped forward with an outstretched hand, but Myros stepped in between the two of them, raising the Heartlance. Lydia looked back toward Jonan, finding him holding a potion bottle of some kind in his hand. He was circling around to a flanking position, and he nodded at her.

“Don’t give it to him yet. He has some questions to answer first,” Myros demanded. The armored knight was standing in front of Taelien defensively, as if expecting violence to break out at any time.

Taelien unsheathed a second sword, dropping it to the floor, and returned the Sae’kes to its scabbard. Lydia inspected the other sword, noting that it had an unusual red metal blade.
Something from the vault? Probably not worth worrying about right now. Why is he putting the Sae’kes away?

Is he too exhausted to fight?

Myros continued to argue with Edon, and Lydia glanced over to Jonan. The sorcerer waved back at her, holding some kind of vial in his right hand.

“I nearly killed someone last night because of your lies. I nearly killed Taelien a few weeks before – again, because of your lies. I will have no further part in this...and neither will you. You will answer for your crimes,” Myros raised the Heartlance. “Surrender now, and I will turn you over to the queen for judgment. Taelien, are you with me?”

Lydia blinked at that.
That’s...surprisingly pragmatic. With Myros on our side, this is going to be a lot easier.

Taelien glanced at the two figures, and then bent down and picked up the red-bladed sword from the floor and stepped behind Edon. Lydia moved aside, giving Taelien room. He was nearly close enough for her to touch, and she felt the sudden urge to reach out for him, but she restrained herself. Taelien placed put the red-bladed sword up against Edon’s back.

Edon quirked a brow. “If you were going to try to make a coup, it would have been smarter to do it before Taelien walked the path. Do you really want to do this, Myros?”

“If we I had done this before, Taelien wouldn’t have had the gem. I’ve been down there more often than you have – I know how the vault works. I knew he’d find it. And I know what it does,” Myros explained.

Please, tell me,
Lydia urged Myros silently. She briefly debated reaching down to touch the gem – Taelien was close enough – but she would have to speak aloud to identify it.

“Well,” Edon said, “That’s comforting, that you had a plan, at least. Unfortunately, I must decline to surrender.”

Lydia gripped her sword in both hands, preparing to strike.

“Now,” Myros said, raising the Heartlance and surging rapidly forward.

Edon spun away, causing Myros’ attack to nearly slam into Taelien. The swordsman looked exhausted, struggling to deflect the accidental spear strike and taking a step back before launching an attack that came too late. A moment later, Edon had a hand on the Heartlance, and he snapped his fingers.

Myros disappeared, the blue flash of some sort of spell effect nearly leaving Lydia blinded. Edon held the Heartlance, smug confidence spreading across his features.

“Sad, really. I always liked Myros,” Edon spun the spear playfully. “You, I have less of an investment in. And you seem to have made your choice.”

Taelien nodded. “I have.”

“Unfortunate,” Edon replied, raising his left hand. “Eru volar shen taris.”

Lydia stepped in front of Taelien just as a blast of blue-white flame emerged from his hands.

Eru volar shen taris,
her comprehensive barrier spell reported. The shield shimmered and cracked around her, the intensity of the single blast shredding the barrier to near uselessness.

She stepped in the moment later, swinging the flat of her blade at Edon’s forehead. A barrier, near identical to her own, flashed into existence just before her blade landed, deflecting the strike.

Behind her, Lydia caught a brief glimpse of Taelien desperately waving his hands over a spreading wave of blue flame on his shirt – apparently, her barrier had failed to block the entirety of the blast. He seemed to be attempting to use Flame Sorcery to disperse the fire.

“Interesting,” Edon muttered, waving a hand. “Eru volar-“

Lydia struck a second time, but again, the barrier stopped her strike.

“-esu raval taris,” Edon finished, waving a hand.

Eru volar esu raval taris
, Lydia saw in her mind as she swung a third time. Edon winced as her blade struck the barrier a third time, making a noticeable crack in the shimmering protective field.

That was a spell to break my invisibility,
Lydia realized.
And it took down what was left of my barrier.

Edon slammed the Heartlance into the stone floor, causing golden lines to spread from the impact point upward across the spear. As the glowing lines reached Edon’s body, they spread across his hand and into the sleeve of his robe.

That’s new,
Lydia considered, making a high cut toward his exposed shoulder. Edon raised the spear into the path of her blade and the impact triggered a backlash of force, sending Lydia skidding several feet across the floor.